Hey, look! Another chapter. (I'm just really excited about this story, can you tell?)

As always, hope you enjoy!

It's Not That Simple

"So you're a daughter of Apollo?" Ivan asked me. I looked at him, confused at his question. My mind had been so focused on picking off monsters—five so far—that it was hard to bring it back to normal things, like…conversation.

"I was explaining what he is, what's going on, why the monsters," Grover told me quietly.

"Yeah," I muttered, peeking back out of the door. Ivan was silent for a while so I finally looked back at him.

"You're not very tan," he commented.

I felt offended for some reason. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Uh, guys, maybe not now—" Grover started, but Ivan interrupted him.

"Well, I figure that if you're a child of the sun god, you'd like the sun. You know be out in the sun a lot. So you'd be really tan. But you don't look tan. I mean, you're definitely not white, but you're not, like, tan-tan, either."

I tried to stifle my eye-roll as I peeked out through the door again. "I spend most of my time in the Underworld," I told him in a monotone as I slowly, silently raised my bow and arrow. Another hellhound had shown up. I was about to dust the monster when a dracaena came into view, as well. I swore in my head and lowered my bow and arrow, quickly pulling another arrow from my quiver.

I had to open the door wider to get my shot. The dracaena's armor clattered to the floor.

"We should try and go," I told Ivan and Grover, pulling back into the room. "I don't hear anymore hellhounds. Can you lead us to the exit?" This question was directed at Ivan.

"Of course."

"Stay behind me. Grover, take up the rear," I instructed. "Move quickly and quietly."

They both nodded and I opened the door, looking up and down the hall, my bow and arrow down but ready to be raised. We moved through the hallways with much more control than before. The only sound was our quiet breathing and footsteps. It was starting to concern me. I'd only taken out seven monsters. There had been more than that in the gym, and that wasn't including the hellhounds. Where were they? Were they waiting for something again? If so, what was the trigger?

We turned down another hallway and there were the doors, at the end of the hall. I would've felt relieved, seeing as we'd made it unscathed, except it seemed too easy. There were at least 8 monsters left, why hadn't they attacked us? Our scent trails were all over the school, sure, but that wouldn't lead them in the wrong direction for long. It had to be stronger in some places then others. Most monsters weren't the brightest of the lot, but they weren't idiots, either.

My heart was racing as we got nearer and nearer to the door. I constantly looked around the hallway, listening for the sound of pursuit, anything that would signal an attack or ambush. When we got to the doors, I signaled for Ivan and Grover to stop. Keeping my bow and arrow in one hand, I went up and pulled both doors open.

I had a split second to think. It was like something snapped and adrenaline shot into my veins. My ADHD kicked in. In that split second, I saw before me the hulking beast of Chimera—a large monster with the head of a lion, body of a goat, and a tail that was a deadly diamondback rattlesnake at least ten feet long. Its mane was caked with blood.

It roared before leveling its eyes at me. It opened its mouth and I saw the spark of a small flame in the back of its throat.

I dropped my bow and arrow, raced toward Ivan and Grover, and shoved them against the wall just as a column of flame blew past us. The heat on my back blistered my skin. I gritted my teeth so as to not cry out. I'd experienced worse pain.

"Get Ivan to the car and wait there. I'll distract ugly," I told Grover, stepping back and unsheathing my sword.

No sooner had I faced Chimera did I have to tuck and roll away from its snake as it lunged at me, jaws snapping. My whole back blazed with acid pain, but I pushed the pain down and tried to focus on everything else around me, become hyperaware.

I swung my sword at the snake's head as I stood, but it pulled away too quickly. I managed make a gash in the side Chimera's body, though. The monster didn't like that.

I ducked and rolled again (my back protesting), before it could retaliate, closer to the monster and swung my sword at its legs, forcing it to back up. I needed to get it out of the doorway if Grover and Ivan were going to be able to sneak past.

The Chimera reared back, roaring loudly. I used this opportunity to jab my sword up into its massive goat chest. It roared again, but retreated even further. I quickly jumped back, out of the way.

I turned toward Ivan and Grover, who'd been standing behind me, looking for an opening. "Go, now! I'll be there in a minute!"

When the Chimera's roar died down, it started yelping and shaking its head. It kept rearing up, trying to get the sword. Ivan and Grover sprinted past me and skirted around the Chimera. The car was waiting at the curb, unlocked (Mist kept mortals from stealing it), keys in the visor. Argus had gone back to camp.

I'd learned how to drive a while ago, and having a getaway car made things easier. Not necessarily safer, but definitely easier on these types of missions. Especially because of what had happened during my previous missions and all the monsters that had shown up during those, too.

The sound of a sword clattering to the ground grabbed my attention and I looked back at Chimera. It had finally managed to dislodge my sword. It met my eyes, hate burning in its own. Chimera opened its mouth and I dove to the side as another column of fire lit up the night.

I struggled to get to my feet while keeping an eye on the monster. My back was seriously starting to bother me now. It was getting harder and harder to ignore the pain. My vision started blurring occasionally, my head swimming.

Nevertheless, I forced myself to stand and face the monster. It was facing me, lips pulled back over its razor-sharp teeth. Its snake tail was also focused me, fangs bared. But it was waiting.

I swayed, wondering why it was waiting. I had been an easy target. Still was.

My answer came when a woman laughed to my left. Blinking away the haze around the edges of my vision I looked, keeping my senses open to Chimera as much as I could. At first, I was confused as who, or maybe what, I was looking at. It may have been my blurry vision or the Mist, but at first I saw a large woman in a denim dress.

I blinked and her form changed. She still had a human head, but her skin was scaly and had a greenish tint. Her eyes were a bright, unnatural green. Was it just me or did a forked tongue just shoot out from between her lips? If I wasn't hallucinating because of pain, and if memory served, this was Echidna, the mother of Chimera. Which would explain why Chimera wasn't trying to rip me to shreds currently. She must have given her child a silent order not to attack.

I was, however, 100% sure she was laughing at me, mocking me. For what reason was unbeknownst to me.

"What do you want?" I managed. For now, it seemed she was enjoying toying with me. She wasn't going to have Chimera kill me. Yet.

"I'm sure you know already, deary," she sneered, showing some of her fangs instead of teeth.

I swayed again and stumbled trying to regain my balance. I shook my head, trying to clear it. Gods, this wasn't looking good. I should've prepared better, taken a baggie of ambrosia with me or a small canteen of nectar.

"The reward," I finally said, "for killing me." Echidna smiled wider, her green eyes flashing and forked tongue flicking. "Why?" I asked this when I could, hoping they might give me something to work off of. Usually, they didn't answer, or they gave me some vague shit. Nothing I could use.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Echidna answered. I tensed, my eyes going back to Chimera whose back leg muscles flexed. I prepared myself mentally and took a deep breath before Chimera lunged at me. I jumped and rolled out of the way, coming up just in time to see the snake flying toward me, like a bullet.

I narrowly managed to avoid its venomous fangs by jerking to my right.

Echidna laughed again.

"Just give up, deary," she taunted. "Make things easier for all of us. You've lost your weapon!" Sure enough my sword was lying on the steps behind Chimera. Echidna continued, "And don't think that pathetic little dagger at your ankle is going to beat my beautiful child."

A jolt ran through me and I nearly became snake food. I jumped to my right again, but went tumbling down some steps. Nothing broken from what I could tell, but now my back wasn't the only thing pulsing with pain. I steadied myself between two steps, but crouched so I could more easily lunge away.

How had Echidna known about my dagger? I kept it in its ankle sheath for the specific purpose of keeping it hidden. It had come in handy in the past, they never really thought to look there, giving me at least one weapon to protect myself with (I'd played prisoner a lot during one of the years leading up to the war, I hate to admit). Now, it looked like keeping it a secret from monsters was no longer an option.

Echidna grinned wickedly at me. "Oh, yes, little demigod, I know about your dagger at your ankle. You wouldn't believe how fast word travels in the monster realm."

I snorted. "I didn't realize monsters gossiped." Echidna rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to respond, probably, but I continued. "And you're wrong. I do have my sword."

Echidna's smirk melted as her green eyes darted back and forth between me and my sword that was still lying behind Chimera. Her eyes narrowed.

"You're joking," Echidna hissed.

It was my turn to smirk, despite the pain pulsing throughout my body. I held out my hand and focused on my sword. The hilt flew into my hand and my eyes went back to Echidna briefly. Then I had to focus my full attention on Chimera because the monster jumped at me again, growling.

I rolled even further down the steps, but since I was prepared, I didn't hurt myself more than I already had. Though, it did make the wounds and bruises I had incurred flare up. My head felt light, like it was trying to pull itself from my shoulders.

Gritting my teeth I forced the vertigo down, and myself to stand up straight and swing at the monster. I managed to get a good cut on its side. The snake shot toward me again. I stepped back, instead of moving to the side, and swung my sword in an arch, decapitating the head.

Echidna shrieked in anger as Chimera roared with anger and pain. I capitalized on this moment to run up the steps, closer to Chimera and swung my sword again, with all my might, easily slicing through one of its legs. I didn't hesitate and swung again, removing the other front leg.

Chimera stumbled back as much as it could without two front feet before finally collapsing and crumbling into dust. Paying Echidna no mind, I sheathed my sword, ignored the pain radiating through my body, and sprinted down the steps to the car. I launched myself onto the hood and slid across it to get to the driver's side faster. My body protested vehemently, but I ignored this and jumped into the seat, grabbing the keys and jamming them into the ignition.

"Here, before we go," Grover said, shoving a canteen at me. I wanted to tell him I didn't have time, but my vision blurred so badly I swear I almost blacked out. I quickly grabbed the canteen and took a swig. Immediately the bruises vanished and my vision cleared. My back was still in some slight pain, but felt more like a bad sunburn than serious third-degree burns from actual fire.

I threw the canteen back at Grover and started the car. I glanced out the window of the passenger's seat to see the dust swirling around on the steps. Instead of looking murderously angry, Echidna was smirking again.

It felt like someone had just rammed a chisel into my chest. Something was off. Why was she smug? I had just killed her child.

Ivan shifted in the back of the van and I remembered what I was here for. Chimera was incapacitated at the moment so now was the perfect time to get away. I would have to think about this later.

"Seatbelts," I said before pulling out and slamming my foot on the gas.

"Tori," Grover said in a tense voice. I flinched. "Maybe we could drive a little slower. We got away."

"No, something's wrong," I said, pressing even harder on the gas pedal. "Did you see the look on Echidna's face? She wasn't upset at all that I'd just killed her child. The dust was swirling on the steps. Maybe Chimera was reforming."

"Right there? On the steps? That's…impossible," Grover stuttered.

"Wait, I thought monsters were supposed to go to Tartarus and not reform for a while," Ivan chimed in, finally sounding freaked out. I glanced at him through the rearview mirror briefly. He was cracking. I couldn't blame him, though. Seeing such a terrifying beast as your first introduction to the demigod world would do that to anyone.

"They're not," Grover and I said at the same time. I turned my attention back to the road. As soon as we were out of the city and on the highway toward camp, I sped up even more.

It was silent in the car as we raced down the quiet road in the dead of night, but I could feel Grover's eyes on me. I shot him a quick look through the corners of my eyes. His eyes were steady and firm.

Ever since the Titan War, he'd grown so much more confident. And, I mean, I'm sure being the Lord of the Wild helped with that, too.

"What?" I finally asked, maybe a little too harshly. He was probably my only real…friend right now. My half-siblings didn't count, because they were my half-siblings. All the other cabins didn't like me because during the Titan war, I'd become a prisoner on Luke Castellan's monster-infested ship because I'd gone to try and convince him to come back to the gods's side.

Luke was another demigod, son of Hermes. He'd been trying to help Kronos, the titan, rise again and dethrone the gods. He almost succeeded too…

We were a thing. Well, more than just a thing, but…it was just too painful to think about him for too long.

When Luke realized that he couldn't live without me, I was no longer a prisoner. I actually helped him in his mission, as much as I am ashamed to admit. I stayed because I loved him and I had promised not to leave him. I stayed, because after I'd died, I became the only thing keeping Kronos's goal alive. I had tried to convince Luke to let me go, but he wouldn't and I couldn't get myself to leave him.

Long story, short: the whole of Camp Half-Blood thought I was a traitor for two years.

And now, well, they still didn't trust me. Did I blame them? Not exactly. But they also didn't know I still couldn't look myself in the mirror. It had been at least 3 or 4 years since I'd faced myself in a mirror. As the days passed, it became harder.

Anyway, I probably shouldn't have been addressing my only friend so harshly.

Grover sighed heavily and I looked over at him just in time to see him roll his eyes. "'I spend most of my time in the Underworld,'" he quoted. "Really?"

I looked back and forth between him and road, my expression incredulous. "Really? Now? You want to discuss this now?" Then I was offended. "And it's not untrue!"

"Maybe you have been hanging out in the Underworld too much. You should try the living again."

"Well, it's not like I can just—" I broke off, catching myself before making a big mistake.

"Not like you can just, what?" Grover asked, looking at me with narrowed eyes.

I swallowed hard and looked back at the road, keeping my gaze locked there.

"Nothing," I mumbled quickly, gripping the steering wheel. I peeked at Grover who was looking at me exasperated. "I'll…try harder next time. Maybe you can give me lessons."

I could tell Grover wasn't finished, but he didn't push. I mentally let out a breath. That was too close. I'd have to be more careful next time. Usually no one questioned my disappearing act (trips to the Underworld) because they didn't care. It seemed Grover had been keeping closer tabs on me than I realized.

As we got closer to camp, I expected my body to relax, even a little bit. However, Echidna's expression was still bothering me. The only reason she should be smug after I had just dusted her child was that Chimera wasn't actually dead. If that was case, and Echidna seemed to really want that reward, then that meant Chimera would be making a reappearance. Soon.

We just a few more miles until we got to camp, though. That was all…

The closer we got to camp, the more foreboding the atmosphere became. It pressed against my chest. The metal of the vehicle seemed to be pressing in on me. I was finding it harder and harder to breathe.

"Hey, are you okay?" Grover asked, reaching over and putting a hand on my arm. I instinctively jerked away. Grover retracted his hand. "I'm sorry."

I looked at him through the corners of my eyes, but I couldn't meet his gaze for long.

"No, it's fine," I muttered, shifting uncomfortably. "And…I'm fine. I'll-I'll be fine."

"You'll be fine?" Grover questioned.

"Just…not now, please." I was never fine anymore. Explaining the intricacies of having to deal with the loss of a loved one and becoming a god's servant would take too long to explain, if I was even allowed to talk about it to anyone other than my siblings.

I gripped the steering wheel. "We're almost there." I said, mostly to myself.

When I could see Thalia's pine tree in the distance, something caught my eye in the rearview mirror. Chimera was back.

I'd never seen a monster run so fast before. It was frightening, to be completely honest.

"What do we do now?" Ivan asked, panic lacing his voice.

I paused, trying to think of the best option. Clearly, this had nothing to do with Ivan or Grover. Chimera and Echidna were after me.

"Okay, here's what I'm going to do. I need you to listen carefully," I said slowly and concisely. They both nodded and I explained my plan. I just hoped they would both be okay afterward.

A few yards away from Half-Blood Hill, I slowed down to about 30 miles per hour and as we passed Grover and Ivan jumped from the van. Then I gassed it, speeding up so fast with enough force that the doors slammed closed.

As I suspected, Chimera ran right past Grover and Ivan, following me. I looked at the monster through the rearview mirror, it getting closer and closer. Slowing down for that small moment had allowed it catch up to me.

I hadn't thought this plan through as much as I made Grover and Ivan believe—I knew they wouldn't have left me otherwise. All I had wanted was to get them away from the dangerous monster. For now, I was going to keep driving until I could figure out a plan to dust Chimera (again, apparently) and at least try to return to camp.

My brainstorming was interrupted when Chimera leaped forward suddenly, landing on the car. I swerved and had to grasp the steering wheel with both hands to keep control. My heart felt about ready to give out. That had been jolting and nothing like I'd ever experienced before.

I jumped in my seat and looked frantically at the roof of the van as Chimera pounced on it with its front paws—I'm assuming. I fought the urge to hold my hands on my ears when it raked its claws across the metal. I didn't think swerving more would get it off. Honestly it would probably cause me to crash, but I did know a little about Newton's Laws of Motion.

Hoping that Chimera wouldn't jolt the van for a few seconds, I took one hand off the steering wheel and buckled my seatbelt. I drove for a few more seconds, bracing myself, and then hit the brake pedal. The seatbelt locked as I was jerked forward. Pain rippled through me from my collar bone, exasperating the burning in my back. My head felt like it'd gained a thousand tons of weight.

Like I had hoped, however, Chimera went flying off the roof of the van and landed on the road, skidding a few feet in front of me. Keep my seatbelt on, I shifted the van into reverse before shifting into drive and hitting Chimera before it could recuperate. I did this until Chimera crumbled to dust. Then I turned the van around and headed back to Half-Blood Hill. I didn't have time to wonder about Echidna, I had more pressing matters to attend to at the moment.

To my utter shock and surprise Grover and Ivan were struggling to get up to Thalia's pine tree. Grover had Ivan's arm slung over his shoulder and they were stumbling. Had it really not taken that long?

I stopped on the side of the road, unbuckled my seatbelt and quickly got out, unsheathing my sword. It felt heavy in my hand, but I ignored that and forced my arm to hold it up. As I made my way toward the two, I was on high alert for other monsters, or Chimera again. Considering it had reformed so quickly, there was a likely possibility that Chimera would make a reappearance before we made it across the border.

"What's wrong? Are you guys all right?" I asked as I came up to them.

"Ivan got hurt jumping out of the car," Grover explained. "I think it's his right arm."

I wanted to help, to put Ivan's other arm over my shoulders and get him and Grover across the border quicker, but I was worried that I would only injure Ivan more.

"Don't you have your nectar?" I asked.

"I already gave him the rest," Grover explained. "It was really bad before."

I cursed silently. I really should've prepared more. You'd think, having been on these missions, I'd know what I needed to take. It was moments like these that left me feeling utterly helpless, like that fourteen-year-old who couldn't do anything but watch in horror as her mom was ripped to shreds by a hellhound.

You'd also think, being the daughter of the medicine god, I'd be able to help heal Ivan. You'd be correct, our cabin had healing abilities. I was special. I couldn't access that power to heal others. I attributed this to the fact that I hated Apollo with all my being. See, my mom had cried out for his help in her last few minutes of life. I found out a few years ago Apollo had heard and done nothing. I'd hated him before I'd found that little gem, but now? I absolutely loathed him.

So, I gripped the hilt of my sword and continued to watch for dangers. I had a bad feeling Chimera was going to reform and be back any minute. I needed Grover and Ivan over that border or they could possibly become collateral damage.

I should've expected a monster that could run so fast could also be as silent as a mouse, despite its size.

The only thing that told me we were in danger was a sudden chill that ran down my spine. I looked over my shoulder to see the head of a diamondback flying toward Ivan and Grover with its fangs bared.

I didn't have time to warn them or swing my sword, I was on the complete opposite side of where the snake was attacking. Swinging my sword might chop off the head of the snake, sure, but it also might chop some other heads that I really didn't want to chop off.

Instead, I tackled them to the ground. Ivan cried out in pain. I let out a yelp as the snake sunk its fangs into my side.

The effect of the venom was immediate. My side exploded with burning pain, which spread outward like someone had lit a fire inside my veins. It was making its way slowly through my body, burning away my blood.

My head spun and my vision blurred. People were moving, jostling me, but I was barely aware of them. Someone was calling my name, my nickname.

"…go," I managed, though I'm not sure how coherent it was.

Grover's voice came through all of a sudden, as if I'd just been pulled out from being underwater. The pain intensified, but all my senses lit up like a Christmas tree and I was hyperaware of everything around me. The grass of the hill beneath me, the cool night breeze doing nothing to relieve the burning inside me, two sets of breathing (one heavier and more pained than the other), the low growl of the Chimera somewhere in front of me, but slightly to the right.

"Tori—" Grover tried. He was kneeling in front of me. I lifted my head and glared at him.

"Go," I growled. "Ivan is priority." When Grover didn't budge, I dropped my glare. "Please, Grover."

Something in my voice, my expression jolted him. Swallowing hard, his eyes crystalizing with determination, Grover stood and clopped out of my sight. I assumed it was to get Ivan. I let my head fall back onto the grass and let out a small breath, closing my eyes, embracing the fire.

Something prodded my shoulder before turning me over onto my back. I gritted my teeth and groaned in pain, but I was too exhausted, too much in agony to really do much more.

I forced my eyes open and at first, my vision was too blurry to make out what was going on. When it finally cleared I realized Chimera was leaning over me now. Its lion head was so close to me I could smell its foul breath mixed with the smell of the dried blood in its mane. My stomach churned and I squeezed my eyes shut, forcing the nausea back down my throat.

Despite how I felt, I summoned my sword back into my hand and gripped the hilt. I opened my eyes again, tensing my arm to stab the Chimera. Before I could even lift my arm, Chimera pounced, moving its paws onto my arms, holding them down, putting so much pressure on them because of its weight, I thought for sure they'd break.

I tried to hold onto my sword, but it then sunk its claws into my arms. I let out a cry, my back arching, and finally let go of my sword. I sunk back to the ground, breathing hard and raggedly. The grass rustled to my left.

"What do you want?" I asked in a shaky whisper, shifting uncomfortably. Where Chimera's claws punctured my arms pulsed in an odd and painful way. I looked out of the corners of my eyes at Echidna. She was smiling down at me, her green snake eyes making her look all the more smug and sinister. Her forked tongue flicked out between her lips.

"You should know," Echidna mocked, her voice lilting, almost sing-song. "We just went over this. A reward."

I shook my head. Darkness was closing in on the edges of my vision. "No," I choked. "It's not that simple." I swallowed hard. My head was pounding. The burning of the venom was spreading across my stomach, down my right leg, up my right arm. My back was now burning like when I'd first received the wound.

"I've killed plenty of your kind, but so have other demigods," I whispered, fighting off the blackness that was slowly but steadily eating at my vision. "Why am I so important? What's so special about me? Surely…other demigods…with more powerful parents are worth more…than me." I swallowed hard again and shifted, the claws still in my skin becoming almost unbearable. They were taking up all my mental capacity, slowly becoming the only thing my brain could think about.

"It has to do with your…child, doesn't it?" I asked just above a whisper. "I've…never seen a monster reform…so fast."

"I didn't think someone who was dying could be so observant," Echidna commented.

I breathed a laugh. "I do try." Chimera dug its claws deeper into my arms and I let out a yelp, my back lifting off the ground again.

Echidna leaned down toward me and I tried not to cringe away. She leaned in close, like she was going to tell me a secret. I could feel her breath dance across my ear and neck. I gritted my teeth as revulsion washed through me.

"I can't tell you now," she whispered. "It's too early."

"Dying woman's last request?" I replied weakly. Echidna pulled back and stood up, smiling.

At first, I thought she was going to ignore me like most of the monsters did when I asked them why they had just a vendetta against me. Other than the fact that I was demigod, and the fact that there was a reward.

To my surprise, she actually answered, "Someone very powerful has some very big plans for you, little demigod." It was vague, but at least it gave me something.

Of course, even the vaguest of answers didn't really help me if I was dead. Which only begged the question, if whoever was instigating and offering the reward for my death, what would they gain from my death? How could they possibly use me if I was dead?

Echidna looked at Chimera before turning and walking away. I looked back at Chimera to see its lion-head's maw wide open. I saw the spark in the back of its throat and I braced myself for the pain.

My only consolation would be that it wouldn't last long.

I was already slipping away, anyway. The black that was encroaching on my vision had now taken over half of it. The pain of my wounds, even the ones Chimera was actively making, was finally, mercifully fading—a dull ache, like the ever-present one in my chest. I could handle that.

I closed my eyes and tried to let my body relax.

Suddenly, Chimera roared. Its claws left my arms and my eyes snapped open. I let out the breath I'd been holding in. I only got a glimpse of the monster as it reared back, snarling and yelping as volley after volley of arrows rained down on the creature. I thought for sure with all the arrows, Chimera would be dust. Instead, Echidna and Chimera both ran off, shrieking. Echidna, since she could talk, was yelling something about how this was only the beginning, that she was rising…whoever "she" was.

Footsteps in the grass, then a familiar face entered what was left of my vision.

"Will," I gasped. My half-brother, our best healer in the Apollo cabin. He was only fourteen, but he appeared and acted much older, because, like most of us, he'd seen and gone through some pretty awful things already.

Will was trying to speak to me, but I couldn't understand what he was saying. It wasn't like I couldn't hear him, my brain couldn't process the words. The venom was making my heart stutter irregularly. By this point, it'd had nearly spread into my whole body. It didn't matter I hadn't been actually set on fire, I was already burning.

"S-snakebite…Chimera…" I choked out, trying to move my hand to where the diamondback had bitten me. I saw Will's blue eyes shift to where I had been bitten. When he looked back at me, he started speaking again, his lips were moving rapidly. Clearly he was worried, but like before I still couldn't understand what he was saying.

The darkness was closing in ever faster.

I couldn't fight it anymore. I closed my eyes and let the blissful numbness wash over me.

Wow, I feel like this is such a trope, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ oh well. To be fair, they are good stopping points when people are on the verge of physical collapse and/or dying, so.

Anyway, hopefully, since I'm, like, really excited about this story, I'll get the next chapter to you within the next few days. (No promises, though, like for serious.)

Thank you for reading,
TheBrightestNight